a heat wave is coming

We caved and turned on our AC last night. Yesterday it was 105, and next week a warm front is predicted, high of 113. In April. Yikes.

old city shopping

Andrea and I went to the old part of the city yesterday. It was lots of fun! We didn't just stay on the main road either, but went into "the bowels". The old city is FASCINATING! I love going there...without baby, of course. It's way too chaotic for me to walk and protect baby from all sorts of vehicles. Not to mention it was 102 yesterday, and wearing baby also means I wear sweat.

I wanted to go because I need a new sari and the old city is where they are super cheap. Andrea found the sari bazaar in a little map book since we are both extremely directionally challenged. Extremely. I can't emphasize that point enough. I'm going to do a blog tour of our day. To get the full effect, you'd need to go sit in the middle of your busiest street with a hair dryer blowing in your face.

First, we were dropped off on the main road and then hopped on a cycle rickshaw (not pictured). He seemed to know where the sari bazaar was.


He didn't, but we got a cool tour of all the small roads and alleys.


Finally he found the sari bazaar, which was pretty much where he picked us up. This is a more main road of the market.


We walked into a connecting alleyway. Even as narrow as this path was, there were still scooters, carts, and cycles going both directions, not to mention people. And probably cows too.


I have never shopped for a sari before, so I started out pretty intimidated by the rows and rows of shops. If you've ever shopped in South Asia, you know how much variety there is, and how easy it is to succumb to indecision. Andrea finally encouraged me to just pick a shop and go for it. This was the first shop. We took off our shoes, sat down, and told this man what color sari I was looking for. Then he would pull out a sari and toss it at me. I'm a horrible photographer, but somehow caught the toss in action in this picture. (sidenote: most of these pictures are Andrea's, that's why they are so good!)


He didn't have what I was looking for, so we went to several more. One shop let me "try on" a couple saris over my clothes. I was looking for a double shaded sari with black and gold. I already have black and gold jewelry, so I needed one to match that. Like I said about the colors here, it was pretty difficult to find a sari with black in it. Lime green swirls, hot pink dots, bright orange silks, and turquoise beading, however, were all at my fingertips.


This is the sari I ended up buying. This man's shop was so small we could barely sit down, let alone try on the sari. So he offered to try it on for me! I told him he was looking very beautiful. He didn't laugh though.


Here are a few more pics of the old part of the city. Make sure to notice the ear cleaner!

summer is here...well maybe not officially

We were talking with my parents on webcam yesterday, and my dad laughed at something I said: "It's getting hot here. Last week we broke 100 degrees. I think we'll be turning our AC on soon." He said, "It broke 100 degrees and you still haven't turned on your AC?!" I know it sounds crazy, but so far, we haven't gotten hot enough to turn it on. I think some of the reasons are that our flat is nice and cool. The houses here are designed to keep relatively cool during the (early) dry hot season. The ceiling fans are impressive! I always cringe when designers on home improvement shows look at a room and say, "Okay the ceiling fan is the first thing to go." Fans can go a long way (well...to a point) for cooling the room, and thus conserving energy used on air conditioners.

Also, dry heat is a lot different than humid heat. (That's not to say that 115 degrees in dry season isn't hot - because it is!) And finally, I think you get used to the heat. It is rare to find central air conditioning here, even in shops or malls. So unless you stand directly under the wall unit AC, the room is still pretty warm. Not to mention that auto rickshaws don't have air conditioners, and car AC's don't really help out so much in 115 degree weather anyway. And then add in the near daily power outages where you go about an hour without electricity, the heat just becomes a way of life.

Last week, we went on one of our evening walks. The weather was probably around 90 degrees, if I had to guess. (it could have been warmer - like I said, you get used to it, so I am not a good gauge at all!) We had baby in just a onesie, and we saw our neighbor walking. He stopped us and told us we should put socks on her so her feet wouldn't get cold! And as I type, I just returned from taking a mid-day grocery shopping trip with baby; it's 99 degrees outside. A man stopped me and said, "Madame, you need to cover the baby's head so she won't be cold." So although it sure feels like summer outside, I guess it's still not considered hot yet to many of fellow capital city dwellers.

one of my favorite things

The city we live in is one of the greenest capitals in the world. Seriously! There are really nice parks all over the city. Our colony (neighborhood) has about 3 nice parks in it, and then there is a really big park about half a mile from our home. Ever since we realized how much baby loves going on walks, we've been going out there several times a week.

I think I may miss these parks the most. And I'm pretty sure I'll be saying that about a lot of things.

People love to come up to baby and pinch her cheeks. And they always ask, "How old is he?" (And no, Mom, it's not because I don't always remember to put bows on her head; they even ask when she's wearing them. :)

South Asians seem to spend a lot of time enjoying the outdoors, which can seem odd, since it gets stinking hot. I wonder if it goes back to the days before air conditioners, when even though it gets 115 degrees outside, it's worth it to sit in the park and wait for a wayward breeze. Or maybe it's the community these people share with each other, where even a city of 17 million can still feel like a village in many ways. Jaya and her mother have walked in one of our colony parks every evening for at least a decade. Jaya and her mother both look at least 10 years younger than they really are - is it good genes or the physical activity?

The park our family has been walking in lately has really nice paths to jog or stroll along. Some kids ride bikes on them, which as long as they are careful, isn't too bad. Now, the other day, some impatient man decided to skip the crazy traffic on the roads and instead rode his scooter through the park. I wasn't too happy about that. But luckily that's the only time that has happened.

There are signs throughout the park that make me laugh. I guess the designers had the idea to create exercise stations. So there is a place for everything from push ups to neck exercises. We haven't quite figured out what the number of meters means (if that's what the M even stands for). Any guesses?


Getting a work out. Sorry for our camera's poor quality! I wish I had gotten the little boy yesterday whose mother made him do the "uneven walk". I don't even know what that exercises, but he was whining , "Why must we exercise, mummy?" It was pretty cute. I think I'd question that one, as well!

is that a breeze i feel?

This picture may seem weird, but it is a summertime milestone. Not only is our AC not on in the middle of the day, but our screen door is open, letting in a breeze! The high today was only 93 (heat index of 98). For about a week now, we've been sleeping with the AC on only about half the night. Is this really August weather? Two years ago, when we arrived in South Asia, we stayed the last half of August in the Capital, and I remember being miserably hot. Was it hotter then, or was I just adjusting from the "normal" weather of the States to the hot weather of South Asia? Either way, hopefully this week is indication of a light at the end of the tunnel!

we're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave....

Our team is here! They are the biggest troopers too because, and I don't think you'll even believe me when I say this, but this past weekend we had quite the heat wave and the high on Saturday and Sunday was 120 degrees!! (according to weatherbug) On Friday night, I went walking in our park with Jaya from 7-8, and we kept exclaiming over and over again how incredibly nice it felt outside, such a cool relief after the 117 degree day. I got home after the walk and saw that it was still 108 outside! haha And this weekend the weather is supposed to go back down to 105 or so, and we are all looking forward to that "cool front".

So what does 115+ degrees feel like? Well I'll give a few examples. There is no such thing as a cold shower anymore, because the black water tanks are located on the roofs. We went two days without any water, and when the water man came to look at it, he discovered that our water pump had actually melted. Speaking of melting, one of my magazines melted. That's not as surprising as one of my friends here - she told me her bathing suit straps had melted. (!) Chocolate is no longer in a hard form. You literally drink water all day long and never have to go to the bathroom. And finally, if you really want the full effect, just get a hair dryer and blow it in your face. That is our breeze. :)

The paper yesterday said it hasn't been this hot since 1945. I told my mom that, and she laughed and said welcome to her second pregnancy! Apparently when she was pregnant with me was the hottest summer they had had in decades. So now I'm getting paid back for the pain I caused my mom. :)

So the moral of this blog is don't come visit us in June.

summer in the city

You know it's summertime in the Capital when...

• You wake your spouse up by exclaiming, "Honey it's a cool one today. The high is only supposed to be 100!"
• Even the cows fight for a spot in the shade in the park and the mosquitoes have given up completely.
• You cook your dinner in the early morning because otherwise you melt.
• You look forward to your nightly cold shower.
• You think, it's almost June. Time for my bi-annual de-worming pill.
• Your friendly neighborhood ice cream wallah isn't open during the afternoon because, "It's too hot for ice cream."
• Locals wear watermelon hats.

What should I add to the list?